READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 15 minutes on Questions 1-10, which are based on Reading Passage 1
Line A number of factors related to the voice reveal the personality of the speaker. The first is the
broad area of communication, which includes imparting information by use of language,
communicating with a group or an individual, and specialized communication through
performance. A person conveys thoughts and ideas through choice of words, by a tone of
5 voice that is pleasant or unpleasant, gentle or harsh, by the rhythm that is inherent within the
language itself, and by speech rhythms that are flowing and regular or uneven and hesitant,
and finally, by the pitch and melody of the utterance. When speaking before a group, a
person's tone may indicate unsureness or fright, confidence or calm. At interpersonal levels,
the tone may reflect ideas and feelings over and above the words chosen, or may hide them.
10 Here the speaker’s tone can consciously or unconsciously reflect emotional sympathy or
antipathy, lack of concern or interest, tiredness, anxiety, enthusiasm or excitement, all of
which are usually observable by the critical listener. Public performance is a manner of
communication that is highly specialized with its own techniques for obtaining effects by
voice and /or gesture. The motivation derived from the text, and in the case of singing, the
15 music, in combination with the performer's skills, personality, and ability to create empathy
will determine the success of artistic, political, or pedagogic communication. Second, the
voice gives psychological clues to a person's self-image, perception of others, and emotional
health. Self-image can be indicated by a tone of voice that is confident, pretentious, shy,
aggressive, outgoing, or energetic, to name only a few personality traits. Also the sound may
20 give a clue to the front or mask of that person, for example, a shy person hiding behind an
overconfident front. How a speaker perceives the listener's receptiveness, interest, or
sympathy in any given conversation can drastically change the tone of presentation, by
encouraging or discouraging the speaker. Emotional health is evidenced in the voice by free
and melodic sounds of the happy, by constricted and harsh sound of the angry, and by dull
and lethargic qualities of the depressed.

Question 1: What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. The function of the voice in performance C. Communication styles
B. The connection between voice and personality D. The production of speech
Question 2: What does the author mean by stating that, "At interpersonal levels, tone may reflect
ideas and feelings over and above the words chosen" (lines 8-9)?
A. Feelings are expressed with different words than ideas are.
B. The tone of voice can carry information beyond the meaning of words.
C. A high tone of voice reflects an emotional communication.
D. Feelings are more difficult to express than ideas.
Question 3: The word "Here" in line 9 refers to ______.
A. interpersonal interactions C. ideas and feelings
B. the tone D. words chosen
Question 4: The word "derived" in line 13 is closest in meaning to _______.
A. discussed B. prepared C. registered D. obtained
Question 5: Why does the author mention "artistic, political, or pedagogic communication" in lines
15-16______.
A. As examples of public performance C. To contrast them to singing
B. As examples of basic styles of communication D. To introduce the idea of self-image
Question 6: According to the passage, an energetic tone of voice, may be an indication of a person's
______.
A. general physical health C. ability to communicate
B. personality D. vocal quality
Question 7: According to the passage, an overconfident front may hide______.
A. hostility B. shyness C. friendliness D. strength
Question 8: The word "drastically" in line 21 is closest in meaning to______.
A. frequently B. exactly C. severely D. easily
Question 9: The word "evidenced" in line 23 is closest in meaning to _______.
A. questioned B. repeated C. indicated D. exaggerated
Question 10: According to the passage, what does a constricted and harsh voice indicate?
A. Lethargy B. Depression C. Boredom D. Anger

READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 15 minutes on Questions 11-20, which are based on Reading Passage 2.
Line The first peoples to inhabit what today is the southeastern United States sustained themselves
as hunters and gathers. Sometimes early in the first millennium A.D., however, they began to
cultivate corn and other crops. Gradually, as they became more skilled at gardening, they
settled into permanent villages and developed a rich culture, characterized by the great
5 earthen mounds they erected as monuments to their gods and as tombs for their distinguished
dead. Most of these early mound builders were part of the Adena-Hopewell culture, which
had its beginnings near the Ohio River and takes its name from sites in Ohio. The culture
spread southward into the present-day states of Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Its
peoples became great traders, bartering jewelry, pottery, animal pelts, tools, and other goods
10 along extensive trading networks that stretched up and down eastern North America and as
far west as the Rocky Mountains. About A.D. 400, the Hopewell culture fell into decay. Over
the next centuries, it was supplanted by another culture, the Mississippian, named after the
river along which many of its earliest villages were located. This complex civilization
dominated the Southeast from about A.D. 700 until shortly before the Europeans began
15 arriving in the sixteenth century.
At the peak of its strength, about the year 1200, it was the most advanced culture in North
America. Like their Hopewell predecessors, the Mississippians became highly skilled at
growing food, although on a grander scale. They developed an improved strain of corn, which
could survive in wet soil and a relatively cool climate, and also learned to cultivate beans.
20 Indeed, agriculture became so important to the Mississippians that it became closely
associated with the Sun – the guarantor of good crops. Many tribes called themselves
"children of the Sun" and believed their omnipotent priest-chiefs were descendants of the
great sun god.
Although most Mississippians lived in small villages, many others inhabited large towns.
25 Most of these towns boasted at least one major flat-topped mound on which stood a temple
that contained a sacred flame. Only priests and those charged with guarding the flame could
enter the temples. The mounds also served as ceremonial and trading sites, and at times they
were used as burial grounds.

Question 11: What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. The development of agriculture C. The early people and cultures of the United States
B. The locations of towns and villages D. The construction of burial mounds
Question 12: Which of the following resulted from the rise of agriculture in the southeastern United
States?
A. The development of trade in North America
B. The establishment of permanent settlements
C. Conflicts with other Native American groups over land
D. A migration of these peoples to the Rocky Mountains.
Question 13: What does the term "Adena-Hopewell" (line 6) designate?
A. The early locations of the Adena-Hopewell culture.
B. The two most important nations of the Adena-Hopewell culture.
C. Two former leaders who were honored with large burial mounds.
D. Two important trade routes in eastern North America.
Question 14: The word "bartering" in line 9 is closest in meaning to_____________.
A. producing C. transporting
B. exchanging D. loading
Question 15: The word "supplanted" in line 12 is closest in meaning to_______________________.
A. conquered C. replaced
B. preceded D. imitated
Question 16: According to the passage, when did the Mississippian culture reach its highest point of
development?
A. About A.D. 400 C. About A.D. 1200
B. Between A.D. 400 and A.D. 700 D. In the sixteenth century
Question 17: According to the passage, how did the agriculture of the Mississippians differ from
that of their Hopewell predecessors?
A. The Mississippians produced more durable and larger crops of food.
B. The Mississippians sold their food to other groups.
C. The Mississippians could only grow plants in warm, dry climates.
D. The Mississippians produced special foods for their religious leaders.
Question 18: Why does the author mention that many Mississippians tribes called themselves
"children of the Sun" (line 21-22)?
A. To explain why they were obedient to their priest-chiefs.
B. To argue about the importance of religion in their culture.
C. To illustrate the great importance they placed on agriculture.
D. To provide an example of their religious rituals.
Question 19: The phrase "charged with" in line 25 is closest in meaning to__________.
A. passed on C. interested in
B. experienced at D. assigned to
Question 20: According to the passage, the flat-topped mounds in Mississippian towns were used for
all of the following purposes EXCEPT__________.
A. religious ceremonies C. sites for commerce
B. meeting places for the entire community D. burial sites

READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 15 minutes on Questions 21-30, which are based on Reading Passage 3
Line All mammals feed their young. Beluga whale mothers, for example, nurse their calves for some
twenty months, until they are about to give birth again and their young are able to find their own
food. The behavior of feeding of the young is built into the reproductive system. It is a
nonselective part of parental care and the defining feature of a mammal, the most important thing
5 that mammals-- whether marsupials, platypuses, spiny anteaters, or placental mammals -- have in
common.
But not all animal parents, even those that tend their offspring to the point of hatching or birth,
 feed their young. Most egg-guarding fish do not, for the simple reason that their young are so
much smaller than the parents and eat food that is also much smaller than the food eaten by adults.
10 In reptiles, the crocodile mother protects her young after they have hatched and takes them down
to the water, where they will find food, but she does not actually feed them. Few insects feed their
young after hatching, but some make other arrangement, provisioning their cells and nests with
caterpillars and spiders that they have paralyzed with their venom and stored in a state of
suspended animation so that their larvae might have a supply of fresh food when they hatch.
15 For animals other than mammals, then, feeding is not intrinsic to parental care. Animals add it to
their reproductive strategies to give them an edge in their lifelong quest for descendants. The most
vulnerable moment in any animal's life is when it first finds itself completely on its own, when it
must forage and fend for itself. Feeding postpones that moment until a young animal has grown to
such a size that it is better able to cope. Young that are fed by their parents become nutritionally
20 independent at a much greater fraction of their full adult size. And in the meantime those young
are shielded against the vagaries of fluctuating of difficult-to-find supplies. Once a species does
take the step of feeding its young, the young become totally dependent on the extra effort. If both
parents are removed, the young generally do not survive.

Question 21: What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. The care that various animals give to their offspring.
B. The difficulties young animals face in obtaining food.
C. The methods that mammals use to nurse their young.
D. The importance among young mammals of becoming independent.
Question 22: The author lists various animals in line 5 to__________.
A. contrast the feeding habits of different types of mammals
B. describe the process by which mammals came to be defined
C. emphasize the point that every type of mammal feeds its own young
D. explain why a particular feature of mammals is nonselective
Question 23: The word "tend" in line 6 is closest in meaning to__________.
A. sit on B. move C. notice D. care for
Question 24: What can be inferred from the passage about the practice of animal parents feeding
their young?
A. It is unknown among fish. C. It is dangerous for the parents.
B. It is unrelated to the size of the young. D. It is most common among mammals.
Question 25: The word "provisioning" in line 11 is closest in meaning to__________.
A. supplying B. preparing C. building D. expanding
Question 26: According to the passage, how do some insects make sure their young have food?
A. By storing food near their young.
B. By locating their nests or cells near spiders and caterpillars.
C. By searching for food some distance from their nest.
D. By gathering food from a nearby water source.
Question 27: The word "edge" in line 15 is closest in meaning to_________.
A. opportunity B. advantage C. purpose D. rest
Question 28: The word "it" in line 18 refers to_________.
A. feeding B. moment C. young animal D. size
Question 29: According to the passage, animal young are most defenseless when__________.
A. their parents are away searching for food C. they are only a few days old
B. their parents have many young to feed D. they first become independent
Question 30: The word "shielded" in line 20 is closest in meaning to___________.
A. raised B. protected C. hatched D. valued

***THE END***
1. B 16. C
2. B 17. A
3. A 18. C
4. D 19. D
5. A 20. B
6. B 21. A
7. B 22. C
8. C 23. D
9. C 24. D
10. D 25. A
11. C 26. A
12. B 27. B
13. A 28. C
14. B 29. D
15. C 30. B
TASK
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Read the following extract from an article about video games.

Playing video games on mobiles or computers has been becoming a popular trend
among young people. Some people believe that this trend has had a lot of positive
effects, while many others argue that its influences are negative.

Write an essay to discuss the effects of playing video games on young people.

Include reasons and any relevant examples to support your answer.

You should write at least 200 words.
Your response will be evaluated in terms of Task fulfillment, Organization, Vocabulary and Grammar.